The Black Shield
by Tired Academic
Summary: A veteran Titan is sent on a mission to rescue two missing Guardians. Reposted from r/DestinyFashion, and based on the OC's outfit.


**A/N: The semester ended just a while back, and I'm already 5 days away from my summer semester. When will I get a break?**

 **As always, a disclaimer: While the work is entirely inspired by Bungie's _Destiny_ franchise, what follows is a story I wrote under an hour because I was inspired by a post on r/DestinyFashion. Enjoy (or don't).**

* * *

The structure trembled for the nth time that day.

Rhylan sat on the floor of a decrepit residential building, taking a moment to catch his breath. The Cabal, in all the infinite wisdom they possessed, had deemed it necessary to lay waste to this sector of the EDZ with half a dozen Goliath tanks; their commanding officer, an upstart Valus, had taken to the fore and was personally demolishing every old high-rise building in front of him with his oversized blaster, desperate to flush out the immortal war machine that broke their ranks a few hours ago.

As the Titan drew a sharp breath and prepared to move, he heard the low hum of ion engines in the distance - a squadron of Cabal gunships, flying in formation and seemingly there to reinforce the forces on the ground in their search efforts. Rhylan made sharp clicking noise - the only sign of annoyance he ever displays, as the presence of more Cabal troops will make completing his mission incredibly difficult.

As a Vanguard enforcer, Rhylan has had his fair share of nigh-impossible strike missions, and yet his current mission did not even warrant strike status. His experience in working with the Hidden in the past, as well as his capacity for running strike missions on his own, has led Ikora to personally ask him for assistance; two members of the Hidden had failed to report in to the Warlock for 36 hours now, and she was growing increasingly concerned that they may have found a threat to the City they are attempting to address. To that end, the Titan had been requested to search for the pair in the old Widow's Court sector of the Dead Zone, their last point of contact with the Tower in any capacity.

The Titan's search for the missing Guardians has been complicated, however, by the unexplained presence of Red Legion remnants in the sector. As far as Rhylan knew, the Cabal have effectively stopped fielding important assets like Goliaths on Earth, much less coordinate an entire division of tanks with infantry and air support in tow. Surprisingly still was the fact that the gunships flew past the buildings and made to land near the Valus and his tanks; the Centurions and the tanks themselves have stopped firing. Decidedly curious about the abrupt end to the shelling, Rhylan peeked out the window closest to him as discreetly as he could.

When the gunships landed, Psion Flayers rushed out and secured the sides of the ship, followed by two Centurions in gold-trimmed armor. Clearly, these gunships were delivering something important, and no sooner did this thought cross Rhylan's mind that three more Cabal legionnaires walked out of the ship bay with a large table being moved by repulsorlift. The Valus, appearing to have his confidence bolstered by what he saw, began barking a series of orders to his soldiers, turned to the general direction of the building Rhylan was hiding in, and started gloating about his victory; he had what he came for, Rhylan's Ghost translated for him. When Rhylan zoomed in on the table with his rifle, his fists clenched around the firearm's frame, threatening to break the fragile steel construct.

Laid out on the table in gory fashion were the remains of the two Guardians the Titan had been tasked to find; Warlocks, if the robes were any indication. Next to the tattered remains were crushed shells, likely what was left of the pair's Ghosts. Rhylan immediately began to see red; his ears registering neither the Valus's disgusting boasts nor his Ghost's fearful cries, the Titan heard only one thing: the crackling of fire, and the sound of metal hitting living metal as his left fist punched the wall and tore open whatever cover the building provided. Red lines pointed directly at his helmet, the last thing Rhylan remembered doing consciously was raising his hand to summon a Hammer made of fire, burning with all the rage he could muster. The last thing any of the Cabal would see was a hulking figure clad in black armor, setting fire to the world.

* * *

 **Please take the time to comment some of your suggestions and/or your misgivings about the content I write or the quality of my writing. It's currently 1 AM where I'm at and I've been sleep deprived for nearly two weeks. Have a pleasant day.**


End file.
